My mother died two weeks ago, that was the reason for my rush visit to Israel. I didn’t see her before she died, lucky for her it was only 10 days in the hospital and it was over. She lived with cancer for 12 years, but she lived very well. I’m glad I saw her three months ago.
Now for memories.
My parents, when they were young, very very young.
Still beautiful, at one of my nephew’s weddings.
At another wedding, with her three kids.
Meeting her first great-grandchild, my grandson Aytan. By the time she died, she had nine great-grandchildren and one more on the way. Unfortunately, because of the distance she never met my other four, only saw pictures of them.
She loved hiking and was able to hike up until about 2 years ago.
She still looked this good in February when I saw her.
Burials in Israel are very direct and basic. Coffins are only used when the body has been traumatized. Otherwise, the body is wrapped in a shroud, put on a simple stretcher under a Tallit, if it is a man and he had one. Or under a simple covering. At the grave site, the body is gently lowered into the grave, all the while the Chevrah Kaddishah – the men from the burial society are asking for forgiveness, that they are being kind enough and gentle enough.
Then the family and friends fill in the grave themselves. This may sound harsh, for me, it was very real and therapeutic. We returned my mothers’ body to the earth, no euphemisms no trying to hide death. Simple accepting it.
We sat Shiva for seven days, another wonderful Jewish tradition, where the mourners, (Parents, children, siblings, so in this case, only her three children) sit on low chairs and people come to share with us. Either memories they had, or ask us about our memories. Sometimes it’s just talk that has nothing to do with my mother. But it is a wonderfully cathartic experience.
On the 7th day, the Shiva ends and we went back to the gravesite to say Psalms.
This is what the gravesite will look like until a tombstone is put on top. Flowers aren’t really common in Israel, these were sent from my brother’s work. But most Israelis don’t put flowers. We put a stone on the gravesite.
My father’s grave, right next to hers. He died 33 years ago to the week. This is what hers will look like in a few months.
Then it was back to her apartment, which is in a senior center, where friends from the building who couldn’t make it to the Shiva came to pay their respects. She was well loved.
I brought some items home, among them this:
My mother’s wedding ring, this is the ring my she used when she married my father. In the last few years, she really got thin because of cancer and this ring didn’t fit anymore. She wore it on a chain around her neck. I don’t know where my father’s ring which was identical went. I’m sure my brothers will find it at some point.
It fits me perfectly. It is a simple yet artistic ring, silver, and copper.
Someone at the Shiva stated things very well: it was sad but not a tragedy. She lived a long full life, she lived it well. She left many wonderful descendants and we will remember her and carry her memory on to our children and grandchildren.
Leah
where I keep my eyes open for interesting things.
Pretty entrances.
and pretty pots with flowers. 
The hollyhock is blooming. 
Here it is May and there is a slight rain, I grabbed a picture of a cat.
He jumped down and wrapped himself around my feet. Now you can really see the rain. 
He followed me down the street, and only stopped when another cat came out to defend his territory.
Because my grandson has a ‘thing’ for ‘mingoes’ I had to had to take this picture. Flags are everywhere. 
Since the US embassy opened not far from here, this is a common sight as well.
I am really enjoying hand applique these days. This one has some tiny parts, which might be overkill, but it’s good to know I can do this.
Although I’m not interested in more of this. I went to the designers’ website, I wish her well. But one set of flowers like this is enough for me. Not because of the difficulty, but because this kind of design simply isn’t my style
Appliqued the black circle to a brown background. It came with a tiny print for the back, that just felt too busy for me.
Close up of my work. Did I say how good I feel about my workmanship?
The paper inside is supposed to dissolve when washed. It worked! I hand washed this with Soak and it melted away.
Bought a cheap pillow at Big Lots, cut away the cover and voila! A new cushion. I’m not that big on pillows, but what can I say, my house is filling up with them…
I think I mentioned that I was concerned about having enough background fabric. So I bought a new background, it’s the top blocks. I think I like the brighter yellow tone more than the khaki. I know I’ll do something with the blocks I already made. Something else.
I try and make as many as I can that will appeal to boys. Like everything else, there are tons of options for girls, less so for boys.
The first one from this batch I made with French seams. Very nice clean and enclosed. 
I have a five needle serger, which means that not only can I clean the edges, I can also sew the seam at the same time. Since it is a chain stitch I have to weave in the end and use fray-check since that kind of seam can unravel easily. But it makes sewing pillowcases so much faster.
I know, we are constantly being warned, don’t use pins when sewing on the serger. Well, in this case, I am sewing through either three or five layers of fabric. (If there is a narrow row of decorative fabric, which there sometimes is.) That is hard to hold together so, I pin. I work very slowly, making sure to remove the pin before it hits the knife. I get it, it’s easier to tell people not to do something rather than explain how to do something carefully. Lucky for me, I’m not a dummy.
How cute are these?!?
When I finished the shirt, I had enough fabric leftover for a pillowcase.
I made a cute dress out of the rayon challis. 
I’m so glad this fabric is rayon, I might have been tempted to buy it even if it were polyester, and then I would have regretted the decision.
I know, soon it will be warm, or rather hot. but it bugs me that on Mothers Day, I have to wear this with a sweater.
I’m sure I shared this a few years ago when I made this dress. I am very impressed with how well these photos came out! So really, it’s more about the photography here. I wish I knew how I accomplished this, then I could repeat it.
In the fall I made four long sleeve button down shirts. I pulled the pattern out and made a short sleeve version.
Paired with a skirt I made a few years ago.
I deliberately took these pictures by the red roses, they work so well with this shirt.
Perseus with the head of the Gorgon, aka Medusa.
Fountains and water are a relief from the heat. Lucky for me, the day wasn’t too hot.
This time, a visit to the children’s garden, I hadn’t been here in a long time. It is quite expensive to bring kids here, but so worth it if you can.
Crows as art, they are a very common bird after all.
Then, a very fun encounter, years ago I heard an interview with Terry Eagan, since 2010 he has been restoring the FauxBois in the Japanese and Rose Gardens. He was so touched that someone actually heard that interview! He gave a long lecture about how it was the FauxBois that convinced Arabella Huntington to move to remote San Marino with her second husband Henry. (Her first husband was Henry’s uncle Collis, although she and Henry were the same age.)
Pantone color of the year, ultraviolet alongside ultra blue, as it is found in nature.
A vibrant red Japanese Maple glittering in the sun. Really, no photo can do it justice.
Color and texture in the desert garden.
Here in SoCal, May is the time to visit the rose garden. Once again, photos don’t do it justice. This is a small portion of it, human for scale. Other parts of the country will have the height of their blooms later in the summer. By then, this garden will be tired and be screaming for water, not producing many blooms.
Big Koi, or what we like to call, gefilte fish.
Look at this owl! Yes it is embroidery, from the book 
I must have gotten this kit in some giveaway. Perfect! Let me work on this with my appliquick tools.
There is a reason why we have so many different marking pencils. The white ceramic pencil is perfect on the black. My 
I can see why someone gave away this kit, it’s a lot of fiddly little pieces. I’m fine with that, but most people aren’t.
For the stems I am using the smallest of these applique rulers, 1/8″, it really works!
I’m also working on a pieced quilt. Having fun using my rulers to get accuracy. 
These blocks are 9″, I’m working off a quilt pattern, but I’m reverse engineering. Which is what quilters have always done, see patterns they like and figure it out. 
This won’t be a wall hanging, well, actually, maybe it will. I’m thinking of making a full-size lap quilt and I”m not sure I have enough of the background fabric, so these blocks are practice and may end up in a smaller project.
Remember my trip to Michael Levines? I gave a private tour downtown on Saturday, it started at noon, so I dashed into the store before my tour. So the lightest fabric in my pile is the only one I payed full price for. All the others are from the remnant table. This is the first time I’ve seen solids on their remnant site. They also had each costumer pull out a card at the register, I got an additional 15% off. My whole haul was $80….
I labeled my Double Wedding Ring quilt.
And shared it at Valley Modern Quilt guild.
I’ve had this blue fabric forever when I make skirts I want some of them to be basic plain skirts. 
I like a skirt with a little flair.
Then I’ve found this Tula Pink fabric, enough for another skirt. A slightly different pattern, one I actually like better. 
Then I had the pleasure of going to Michael Levines, where on the sales table I found this beautiful piece of rayon, enough for a dress.
Look at this cotton shirting! Yes, I will make a short sleeve button down shirt from this.
And this knit, which might become a sleeveless maxi dress.
Orange shawl with orange rose. This is before blocking.
This is after. 
I was trying to create a shorter crescent shawl. So I sort of invented the body but reused a border pattern from another shawl.
I’ve yet to see if I like this length or not.
It folds over nicely.
This is a lovely Anzula yarn. I missed the Yarnover Truck last week, they have the best selection of this yarn. It is so soft and although the color is bright, it has a lot of variation in the dye.
So just as the weather warms up, I have another cute wool shawl.
It does give me the warmth and coverage I need on my back.
I found this cute simple knit at JoAnne’s, it is 90% rayon, which means it feels so soft and lovely. Being a natural fiber, it will be comfortable in the heat.
It is a little harder to handle than cotton knits, but a little extra time is worth it. 
I don’t like only using my serger, I find that the seams do open up, so I sewed the seams first on my regular machine. I used a specialty thread that has some Lycra-stretch to it. Well, that didn’t work at all. I don’t buy Clarks thread, but I bought this one, never again.
So I went back to the regular thread and the fine zigzag stitch. Not everything new is better than the tried and true.
I LOVE knit dress, comfortable, pretty and they aren’t restricting at all.
Now I need to pay a serious visit to Mood in search of more summer fabrics.